No Place for Street Children, but the Street

June 1 is Children’s Defense Day

June 1st, International Children Defense Day is one of those rare celebrations, when Georgian society nationally expresses charity for socially unprotected children. 2009 went without exception – taking children to zoo, parks, cafйs, presenting them with gifts.
However, the main point of the day was defense, and expressing through entertainment programs, protection of Children’s right on leisure.
Entertainment and leisure is one of the rights all children should have, but there are some more vital rights that every state and civil society should provide.
The main problem that the Georgian Public Defender office cites is related to street children.
“In almost every field referring to children and youth, the state leads some reforms and we move forward, except street children. There is not even one single long-term project designed specially for street children,” said Meriko Maghlaferidze, children affairs officer at Georgian Ombudsman office who also mentioned that eventually, these kinds of children are inclined to violence and crime.
A program launched in 2005, provided rehabilitation houses for street children. The project has been funded by Georgian NGO “Child and Environment,” who consists of five rehabilitation centers for vulnerable children throughout the whole country. Each of the houses is capable of receiving around fifty children per day.
However all of them are day-centers and only one “Begurebi” keeps about 20 children per night.
“Child and Environment” has donors and international organizations that help, but according to its director Nana Iashvili, after the last project, USAID has strongly recommended to find alternative sources of financing. Indeed they’ve gained state financing, (it funds five lari per day, per child), but without one exceptional service – a mobile group working on the ground.
“We received refusal from the Ministry of Health and Social Care, who reasoned the specifics of this service, but it is vital in determining the existence our houses,” Iashvili said.
Working on the ground, in the streets is the basic and most important part in taking care of street children.
“Our social workers meet children, gain their confidence and convince them to come to the rehabilitation centers, it is very hard, particular and decisive step when working in this sphere; I don’t really know how we work so far,” said the director.
Specifics of the program are that after they first come to the centers, children spend the whole day, having two meals and different classes, including a school preparation program, working on enamel, singing and some others. If someone doesn’t take the child on their first visit, it is a small chance that the child will get there on their own. Iashvili has decided to address donors or charity organization for help.
Though Nana Robakidze, head of the “Begurebi” rehabilitation house remembers several examples of getting the street children back into society, finding jobs and normal life, the program still has gaps regarding the deliverance of children from the street.
Teona Aslanishvili from international NGO “Save the Children” refers to the unreliable service of day-centers, when talking about the absence of concrete state programs to aid street children. Under the program she is managing Rebuilding Lives Project, “Save the Children” together with UNICEF and USAID has done a research project counting and registering street children in four main cities of Georgia including Tbilisi, Kutaisi, Batumi and Gori. The research showed that in 2007 children listed in urban areas counted 1,600, most of them being boys aged 5-14 years old.
Aslanishvili claims on having no general state policy over these issues. Indeed, the Social Service Agency under Georgian Ministry of Health and Social Care doesn’t include a program connected to vulnerable children.
“We have programs for socially unprotected families, and children are obviously included there,” said Eka Alavidze, representative of the agency.
Aslanishvili of “Save the Children” accents on the fact that prevention of children from street in their early years of being in the street is much more effective than any other services given later.
“More time child spends in the street, the more difficult it is to get him back to normal life,” said the Rebuilding Lives Project Manager. She also emphasizes that creating mobile groups working in the streets will be much more effective than any other step.
Another problem Aslanishvili mentions is system protecting children from family abuse. She intends creating social network including teacher, police, psychologists and some other structures to defend child from problems at home.
“If a child comes to school beaten, or muddy, doesn’t prepare lessons, that may be because of dramatic situations in the family, and it needs adequate and timely reaction,” said Aslanishvili.
Alongside with the street children issue, UNICEF representative in Georgia Ciovanna Barberis presents a list of concerns the organization has towards the state. Infant mortality, nutrition and poor pre-school education.
According to UNICEF’s research, the infant mortality rate goes up to 31% per year, when the state shows about 14.1% of the same findings.
Barberis mentions two kinds of problems there, including giving birth at home in rural areas, instead of maternity houses (mainly she highlighted national minorities who have that tradition) and furthermore, sometimes people face low professional qualifications and access to health care representatives.
The same reasons cause low attendance of children in pre-school educational centers.
“There is a huge difference in rates comparing urban and rural population in terms of giving children pre-school education, in villages, people think they do best for their children keeping them at home,” said the UNICEF representative. Research shows that only 40-41% of the children attend kindergartens. Also she mentions poor equipment of schools with needed materials.
According to the UNICEF findings, about 11% of children of the population have been observed in stunting tendencies, when about 22% suffer from obesity. Barberis notes about lack of proteins and vitamins delivered to children.
“Though, there are strong capacities to solve problems fast, things are slowing down and they don’t go the pace we’d like to see,” she concludes. UNICEF’s full report about the children’s conditions will be issued in a couple of months.
Information to know, an orphan having neither mother nor father regardless the work abilities of the trustee receive only Gel 22 monthly state aid. Children with disabilities under the age eighteen receive Gel 22 as well. Families having children less than 18 years, in the amount of seven or more receive Gel 35 monthly aid.
Anna Chichinadze
5.06.2009